Whacking the RIAA Over the Head with Some Common Sense.
Senator Launches Investigation into RIAA Piracy Crackdown
"The chairman of the Senate's permanent subcommittee on investigations Thursday began an inquiry into the music industry's crackdown against online music swappers, calling the campaign 'excessive.'
'Theft is theft, but in this country we don't cut off your arm or fingers for stealing,' said Sen. Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican who was a rock roadie in the 1960s....
In the conference call, Coleman acknowledged that he used to download music from Napster, the file-sharing service that a federal judge shut down for violating music copyrights.
'I must confess, I downloaded Napster, and then Napster was found to be the wrong thing,' he said. 'I stopped.' " [KansasCity.com, via LibraryPlanet.com]
How refreshing to hear a senator speaking common sense, even admitting he downloaded music (hey, he didn't just inhale!). I can't believe I'm saying this about a U.S. senator, but I'd be interested to hear his assessment of the current state of legal online music.
Of course, I'd also like to get every other elected Congressperson on the stand in a court of law and ask if they've ever skipped television commercials, made a cassette copy of some music for a relative, given a book to a friend, taped a TV show for someone else, etc.
[The Shifted Librarian]
Saturday, August 02, 2003
